


Crash Course

by orphan_account



Category: Phandom/The Fantastic Foursome (YouTube RPF)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Teenagers, BAMF!Phil, CIGARETTES TW, Depictions of Sexual Acts by OCs, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, F/F, F/M, Football | Soccer, Low Self Esteem Problems, M/M, Minor Injuries, Physical and emotional abuse, School Project, Slight Nerd!Dan, bamf!dan, drugs tw, punk!phil
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-08-05
Updated: 2016-08-18
Packaged: 2018-07-29 11:20:32
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 6,715
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7682494
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Someone once said Phil Lester beat up Gary Olfman behind the concession stand in year 11. Someone else said it was actually Stacy Mulligan because she wouldn't give him the last of her stash. The rumors only escalated until Phil Lester, once the school dork, became the school calamity. </p><p>So it's a surprise when Dan Howell, valedictorian, football star, and Phil's ex-best friend, is asked to tutor Phil. And it's an even bigger surprise when Phil lets him.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. on the field

**Author's Note:**

> based off ANDY, YOU'RE A STAR by The Killers
> 
> betaed by @celestialhowell

> _Score: 22 - Wharfield  
>  _
> 
> _22 - Svesters_

Sweat drips down Dan’s brow and collects at the center of his chin. His lungs are screaming and his brain is pleading for him to stop running but he _can’t._ Everything’s resting on him, the team’s _future_ is resting on him. A pang rushes through Dan’s chest and he focuses all his energy on the black and white ball swirling beneath his feet.

The other team is nowhere in sight and the goalie looks beyond nervous at Dan’s speedy approach. A new rush of adrenaline explodes through Dan’s legs and sends him racing forward.

The goal is close enough for the final kick and Dan’s world slows; he can faintly recall his teammates screaming as he nears the goal and the cheers of parents that rattle his ears. He swings his leg back for the final kick, blood thrumming through his ears, and swings it forward into the ball.

A perfect shot. Dan stops running to gaze in awe as the ball sails through the air. The goalie takes a mad dive to the left and jumps into the air, his clothes floating upwards and hair fluttering with the wind. Dan jerks forward though the attempt is useless; he has to trust in his kick.

The kid’s fingers graze the ball, curling at just the wrong moment and allowing the ball to hit the net.

Dan’s mouth falls open. There’s screaming and booing and somebody is crying, but all Dan can focus on is the thousand of people pouring onto the field to see him.

“Dan!” Dan’s best friend, Kel, is crying and Dan realizes his eyes feel a bit wet too.

“Kel,” Dan whispers under his breath and races the short distance to grab his friend. His heart pounding golden blood in the midst of the regional victory -- the first regional victory for Wharfield high school, ever. They pull each other into a hug and a few lose tears escape Dan. His bones shake with the intensity of his happiness.

“We won!” Dan’s coach screams and throws his hat into the air. He falls to his knees in happiness and pumps his fists wildly.

Dan doesn’t have time to laugh before all his teammates collide with him and Kel, overtaking them both in hugs and unbridled joy.

//

“Dan Howell, Wharfield’s star offensive player, out for breakfast at five in the morning. Get a tight lens on this one, Jim,” Dan’s dad calls with a chirp in his voice. Dan laughs in response and rounds the corner into the kitchen where six plates of pancakes have been set out.

“Woah, Dad, celebrating much?” Dan says as he sees the spread before him, whipped cream, strawberries, chocolate syrup, blueberries, maple syrup, bananas, and peanut butter. He takes a seat at his unspoken spot to the top left of the table and starts drowning his pancake in various toppings.

“I’m excited,” Dan’s dad twirled his spatula so the wide end faced his mouth and announced. “Dan Howell, football superstar, valedictorian, stunning looks given by his absolutely gorgeous, amazing, out of this world father, Alex Howell!”

“Alright, Graham. I think that’s enough,” Dan teases and starts chopping up his pancake into eighths. His stomach growls at the delicious smell of too many topping on an already over sugared pancake and he digs in.

“Daddy?” Dan’s youngest brother, Mason, asks from the archway. He scratches his mess of overly curly brown hair and yawns loudly.

“What is it, Masey?” Dan’s dad asks and sets down his last batch of pancakes. He plops down at the head of the table so Mason can crawl into his lap. Then, he lets Mason lean his head against his chest while he adds toppings to his pancakes.

“Casey’s awake and she won’t be quiet,” Mason whines. He cuddles closer to Dad and yawns again. Dan smiles as he looks at his little brother. It seemed like just yesterday he was a little kid being taught to walk by his five other siblings - forced would be a more realistic word. But, he could walk at 11 months so it was all worth it. 

Dan loved his little brother with a big portion of his heart. He was only three years old. The perfect age where he would sit in Dan’s lap while they watched movies, could use the bathroom by himself, and only complained about being hungry when he felt Dan’s stomach growl.

He didn’t babysit often as his twin sister, Casey lived for taking care of children and took Mason to her community college class at the daycare whenever she could so he could meet other kids. But the time he had with Mason was special, especially when he came out to the straggly two-month-old before anyone else (and two-month-olds are very good secret keepers).

Dan’s dad sighs at Mason’s words and bounces the boy around on his lap. “She’s probably practicing her lines. I’ll her to keep it down okay, sweet bee?”

Mason smiles and leans forward to grab a lone slice of banana. Dad breaks it up for him and Mason munches the food with a happy hum.

Dan’s fork scraps along the plate and he stands up to clean his plate and stick it in the dishwasher.

“What’s the hurry, eat some curry?” Dan’s dad jokes. In response, Dan rolls his eyes and throws his book bag over his shoulder.

“I’m meeting with the guidance counselor about some scholarship choices for football. I’ll text you the results in lunch.” Dan takes out his over keychain-ed keys and heads for the front door.

“Have a good day, Dan my man,” Dan’s dad answers happily and Dan smiles to himself as he shuts the door.

When Dan first got his car he hated it. It wasn’t the big, hulking car he always dreams of towering over his peers, or a rustic old car in a sweet pastel color. It was just some run of the mill car being sold in the ditch by the freeway.

Dan bought it for a cool £300 and sat at home while his car was fixed for five months. Every day, more money seemed to float from his pocket until his car was parked in the driveway alongside his oldest sibling, Ray’s, brand new Ford.

It took Dan three days to force himself to clean out his car, taking the old, heavy vacuum cleaner and stuffing it in every nook and cranny the car possessed.

Two days later, Dan finished cleaning his little bug and fell in love with it. It was his car, all his, he bought it himself, he takes care of it himself, and he can drive it everywhere he wants.

Since Dan fell in love with his car, he went so far as to name it Bernice and buy it little stickers to pepper the dashboard.

Dan discards his backpack in the passenger seat and turns the car on first try, lucky to have his car be so unproblematic. He hums and taps on the steering wheel while he drives to keep himself calm and scopes out some of the remaining spots in the high school parking lot.

Samantha and Kel are hanging out together on the bench out front, laughing at some joke and tossing their heads back. Dan smiles gently at the sight of his two friends and plops down at their feet, leaning his head on Samantha’s knee.

“Hey, Dan,” Kel greets and knocks Dan gently on the shoulder. 

“Hey, Kelper, Lamb,” Dan’s friend's familiar nicknames slide off his tongue and make his chest fuzzy. They hum in greeting before falling back into whatever class Dan’s-not-in conversation they were having seconds before.

“Mr. Howell! Glad you could make it!” Ms. Evergreen says from her office window. Dan smiles in her direction and grabs Lamb’s knee to hoist himself upwards. She grunts at the strain and shoves Dan away with a laugh. Dan rolls his eyes, smiling and heads towards the back entrance of Ms. Evergreen’s office.

She sits him down on one of the big, comfortable red chairs in front of her desk. Dan settles in and pulls out the list of scholarships he found online. Then, he notices the loafer next to his backpack, his eyes trail up the leg attached to the loafer and sees his principal, Mr. Black, starring back.

Mr. Black stands at a measly 448 centimeters; he joined the school a few years ago when his last job dropped him for someone with a more authoritic look. Ever since then he’s been a little (literally) bundle of anger. Dan’s only been to his office once for being late for class and Mr. Black threatened to suspend him for _that_.

“Hello, Howell,” Mr. Black nods and his hand goes up the fix the obviously dyed black combover atop his head. Dan forces himself to smile a little and straightens in his chair.

“Daniel, Mr. Black has asked a favor of you. He was actually going to ask Sophie but I persuaded him to change his mind and choose you instead. A good choice I’d say, seeing as your one of the most trusting students in the entire school and your outstanding grades,” Ms. Evergreen babbles on and Mr. Black’s fingers continue to beat against the chair in a steady five digit beat.

“Howell,” Mr. Black eventually cuts her off, “I would like for you to meet with Lester every 5th hour and help him improve his grades.”

Dan shivers at the word “Lester,” a cold feeling rolls down his spine. He rubs his arm nervously and stares down at Mr. Black.

“Lester, as in Phil Lester?” He asks with a high voice, hoping there’s some new Lester that isn’t the 17-year-old punk asshole that Dan left behind three years ago.

“Yes. Of course doing this would go on your record, help with your leadership skills, and I will personally give any school you want my recommendations,” Mr. Black forces himself to smile with obvious uncomfortability.

Dan can feel his brain sighing but he keeps his facial expression blank. Mr. Black knew what he was doing, with all the pluses tutoring Phil should be a steal.

On the other hand, Phil hates Dan now. Like really _really_ hates him. Dan bites his lip and weighs his odds.

He could just accept than not talk to Phil. But- but, on some level, Dan would say he misses Phil. It’s no fun being the third wheel friend and the connection he had with Phil was deeper than any he had made now.

Dan slumps forward in his chair and made his decision. “Yeah, sure I’ll tutor him. It will be fun!” Dan puts on a fake grin and shakes Mr. Black’s outstretched hand. The man’s grip is stronger than steel.

“That’s great! His schedule’s all set up for him to be in 5th hour. I’m expecting good progress,” Mr. Black stands and brushes nonexsistent dirt off his snow white pinstripe suit.

Dan’s smile wobbles and his fingers twist themselves into one big knot. What has he gotten himself into?

//

Dan loves the little library that sits snug in the middle of the school; it’s not big and lives souly off of donated books, but it’s still homey. Not to mention it was the only place in the school with proper heating.

In his 12th year, Dan had loved just laying back and signing out books for the people and students alike who walked in for a book or Rent-A-Movie. That was the year he used to just hang out tucked in a back corner finishing up late homework and talking to Lamb.

Lamb came to school year 11 and replaced Tracy Smith as the quietest kid in class. At Wharfield a new kid was a big, big deal; almost all the kids in the class have known each other since grade school and a new face was always appreciated.

That was until everyone realized Lamb didn’t have the courage to mutter a single word and they skipped off to find the next new student around school.

Hell, Dan hadn’t spoken more than 2 words to her before they both landed the librarian’s teacher’s assistant job. With those tight-knit times in 3rd hour, Dan gradually went from being the only one who talked, to be the one who had to tell Lamb when to shut up. It was fun, checking out books, getting Lamb’s stellar recommendations on any book genre you can think of, putting books in the right place while complaining about these ‘young whippersnappers who don’t know the alphabet.’

To say Dan misses his 3rd hours in the library is an understatement. But his schedule switched his library time to AP Calculus -- significantly less fun.

Lamb still frequents the library and Dan is grateful to have her watchful eye on him as he speaks to Phil for the first time in 3 years.

The first thing people notice about Phil is the hair dye, an electric blue standing out against heavy black.

The first thing Phil’s ex-best friend notices about him is the tattoo swirling up the side of his neck and the piercings glinting from his cheeks. Dan could barely believe this is the Phil who was terrified of needles just three short years ago.

“Hey, Phil,” Dan says to his hands, refusing to make eye contact. Nowadays, Phil reeks of intimidation, and the thousands of stories that depict him as a savage Anti-Superman don’t help, either.

“Dan,” Phil says curtly and slings his feet on the table. He plays around with a pink piece of paper in his hand while Dan struggles to think of what to say next.

“I’m going to be your tutor until the school year ends.”

Phil looks up from his craft project at that and squints his eyes at Dan in mock questioning. “No shit, Sherlock. And just an FYI, you aren’t going to do much good. I don’t know what Harvard/Cambridge ‘save the lowlife’ scholarship they put you on, but I’m not interested.” Phil starts to stand with that and flicks a piece of paper at Dan’s chest.

Dan tenses at the feeling and looks up to finally make eye contact with Phil -- eye contact in the form of a glare. He takes the bright paper from his lap and looks down at it, seeing the tiny, intricate foldings actually make up a delicate miniature crane.

“When did you learn to make these, Phil?” Dan suddenly asks as his memory runs back to another life. Heated summer days under large shaded oak trees, cuddled close to the trunk where the dirt was coldest, his mom complaining about the mud spots all over his Sunday clothes, Phil tossing another failed crane towards the park fence. ‘I’ll get it one day Dan, I swear.’

“Sophomore year,” Phil answers gruffly and plays with the moon etched ring on his finger.

Dan turns back to the crane and swallows hard. This is still Phil; he didn’t turn into some demon monster that was a thousand miles away from Dan. It’s still Phil and he’s right here and there’s a chance Dan could save what he left before. He was cruel before, he made Phil feel inadequate and useless. But, right now, he can get Phil back, to be his friend again. Phil made a paper crane to remind himself he was worth more than Dan, or anyone, thought.

“Phil, can I make a deal with you?” Dan asks and sets the cranes down carefully next to his notebook.

Phil raises his eyebrow but sits back down in the chair anyway.

“What class do you get out of right now?”

“Mrs. Lawerenson,” Phil says and starts to nibble on the edge of his nail. Dan hums in understanding and smiles a bit; Mrs. Lawrenson taught History and was one of the strictest teachers in the school. She even had gray streaks in her dark brown hair at the age of thirty-one.

“Alright, so you get out of Lawrenson; I get out of Hawthrown. The only way we can continue this is if you show some form of improvement, so you have to try and stay out of Lawrenson,” Dan explains.

Phil snorts. “Honestly? I’d rather have Lawrenson.”

“Phil, give me some wiggle room here,” Dan says in an exasperated tone.

“Why the hell should I? You’re not doing this for me and we both know it! I’m going down a bad path remember? You need to find people who actually care about you?” The vein in Phil’s neck is popping out now but his voice stays at a deathly low tone. A phantom shiver runs through Dan’s bones.

“Phil, I’m so fucking sorry for what I said. I took everyone’s opinions and made them into my own. All those things I said were my mistake and I’m so sorry I hurt you. You already had so many people against you, you didn’t need your best friend to be, too,” Dan sighs and plays with a piece of his fringe, trying to conceal the way his hands shake at having his thoughts all out in the open.

“Tell you what. I’ll do all this school shit for whatever Principal Doucheface is giving you and you give me something in return,” Phil has a ghost of a smile on his face and Dan can tell he’s a bit paler than usual.

“Like what?” Dan asks, thinking of what horrible things Phil may be cooking up. If it’s a sex thing Dan swears to god he’s going to punch Phil’s cheek piercing-things, into another dimension.

“Like, I do a Math test and you come with me to Serena’s party on Thursday,” Phil proposes.

Dan’s fingers run cold at the thought of Serena, his ex-girlfriend, placing a hefty slap on Dan’s jaw. The bruise was there for weeks. It’s a miracle Dan stopped Farah from absolutely obliterating the girl.

“Serena?” Dan whines and Phil smiles in a _got him_ sort of way.

“Or something along those lines. I’m going to make you bad, Howell,” _Like you made me_ hangs unspoken but obvious in the air.

Dan sighs and scratches beside his nose. This can’t go too south, right? And a letter of recommendation from the Principal was worth eight suns; Mr. Black wouldn’t even let his own son have that when he tried to get into to Brighton University.

“Deal.”


	2. i remember

“Lesson one, determination,” Dan explains and runs in place while he waits for Phil to catch up. **  
**

  
“I… fucking hate you,” Phil wheezes out and clenches his side to sustain the immense pain there.

Dan just tosses his head back to laugh, his still running in place as Phil struggles to catch up. “If you catch me you can break my arm, tough guy.”

They’ve been doing this all of 3rd hour, just running and running around the soccer field to prepare Phil for the end of semester beep test. Tomorrow was just a practice but if Phil gets anything over a 1 lap he gets an A and passes the semester. Thank god Coach Trivel was so lenient towards them.

Right now signifies the ending of the 3rd lap and the end of Phil, probably. His lungs are squeezing hard around his heart and the pain in his side hasn’t stopped since it appeared on his 2nd lap.

“I’m a more surprise bully,” Phil groans and stops running in favor of slamming his body against the cool morning glass. He lies face down and breathes raggedly to catch his breath.

“Aw, come on Phil, three more steps,” Dan walks over to Phil and kicks his hand to get him moving.

“Carry me,” Phil holds his arms out and Dan snorts, instead collapsing next to his stomach and leaning back on his side.

“You’re too fat to carry,” Dan says with a light feeling in his heart. He and Phil have gone back to their happy go lucky best friend stage so easily. One day they hate each other and the next they fell back into the pleasant homeliness they had found in each other so many years before.

Phil swiped his arm forward, hitting Dan in the ankle and sending Dan tumbling to the ground next to him. “You’re the fat one.”

“Ah, yes. The star football player who runs 5 laps around the soccer field a day is humongous,” Dan teases and nudges Phil with his foot.

“Exactly,” Is all Phil says before he closes his eyes and drifts off on the wet grass.

Dan focuses his eyes on the clouds above them, all pressed together to create a dull grey that threatens heavy rain anytime now. These are the types of clouds Dan - begrudgingly - loves. Playing football in the pouring rain brings a new sense to a game Dan knows by the back of his hand. The mud causes his feet to slip and slide to make the game even harder and trying to take a big kick in the slush may as well be impossible.

When Dan breaks away from his thoughts he turns his head to see Phil peacefully sprawled across the grass. Head tucked into his folded arms and eyes shut tight.

“Are you asleep?” Dan asks, laughing and nudging Phil’s shoulder with his own.

“Shut up,” Phil murmurs back and slaps his hand over Dan’s mouth. Dan just rolls his eyes and places a slobbery lick over Phil’s sweaty palm. “Ew,” Phil jerks back and slaps Dan’s shoulder hard enough to sting.

  
“Your hand smells like weed and sadness,” Dan says in reply.

Phil snorts, “Accurate.”

Dan laughs through his nose, smiling up at the sky while Phil -continues- the struggle to catch his breath.

//

Dan was leaning against the cold brick wall, rain pours down on his head. He looks over to Phil bent over, wheezing bad and leaning heavily on his knees.

“What did you do to him, Howell?” Lamb asks from her spot beside Dan. Watching with fascination as the monetary beep broke through the rain and sent Phil running from one set of cones to the other, once. Then, he turns around and waits for the beep to send him forward again to the other cone. Over and over until he very well cannot stand. “I’ve never seen him run this much, in my life.”

Dan glances at Lamb and simply smiles. He thought as soon as the rain took shape Phil would be off. Probably cursing and glaring at the teacher as he heads into the bathroom to smoke off his stress.

Here Phil was, though, standing with one foot poised in front of his body. Ready to race off again and the robotic voice calls out his number of laps, 21.

“That’s more than me,” Lamb complains before laughing and nudging Dan’s shoulder. “Did you replace him with a robot or something?”

“It seems like it. I didn’t think he had enough practice but here he is. Though, he did almost pass out in 3rd hour,” Dan jokes and Lamb laughs. Her head leaned against the wall next to Dan and a backpack leaning against her one propped knee. She pushes a strand of her brown pixie cut back behind her ear and sets her head on Dan’s shoulder.

“Jokes aside. How the hell did you get Phil to do that?” She asks and Dan leans his head on hers in turn.

Dan blushes and plays with a piece of string on his jean jacket. “You’re going to yell at me for this,” He murmurs.

“Oh god, what has he got you doing?” Lamb asks defensively and curls her arm around Dan’s.

“Well, we have this uh, we have a deal. Phil does something good towards his GPA and I uh- well I do whatever “punk rock” thing he wants in return,” Lamb breathes out harshly and readjust her head so her hair is splayed over the back of Dan’s shoulder.

“Like suck his dick?”

Dan turns bright red and buries his face in his hands. “No!” This draws the attention of a few students next to Dan and they give him an odd look.

“What’s wrong Dan?” Jamie, Dan’s friend from the 3rd year, pissed his pants in 1st year, etc etc, asks.

“We’re all dandy over here,” Lamb covers and gives Jamie such a sharkish look Jamie nervously looks down to his thumbs. “Okay, but like, what is it then?”

“Like, he makes me smoke a cigarette, or I don’t fucking know, something Phil,” Dan answers, his skin now washed down to a splotchy pink.

“That seems a little loose-ended, Dan.” Lamb grabs her backpack and starts to stand up. She leans all of her strength on Dan for support - or retaliation for yesterday morning. “Just knows if he tries anything you don’t want I’m going to rip his 2-inch dick off and feed it to him.”

“God, Lamb. You scare me sometimes,” Dan laughs and takes her hand. Lamb pulls him to his feet and together they head towards the door to wait for the bell to let them out of school.

Dan leans up against the outdoor gym entrance and looks back to see Phil still running. The voice reads 42 and he can’t help but feel an itch of pride at the completly dumbfounded look on Coach Evan’s face. Dan was proud, whenever this was Phil’s best or not he was trying so damn hard. Dan’s chest burned with pride and he grinned as Phil finally finished his runs.

42

That’s better than even Dan got.

“Go say greatjob. Before I shove you,” Lamb laughs when Dan jogs over to an exhausted Phil.

“Hey, champion. You good?” Dan asks and kneels down to a faded Phil.

Phil just stares past Dan at the rainy clouds. His skin a dark pink and glistening with sweat. Dan settles down on his knees and jabs at Phil’s side.

Phil jerks and turns away from Dan. A wary look on his face.

“Aw, sorry Philly. Are you maybe-” Dan jumps forward and latches his fingers onto Phil’s sides -”ticklish?”

Phil squeals and grabs Dan’s hands to shove him away. Dan just leans forward more and digs his fingers harder into Phil’s sides.

“F-fuck! Cut it out!” Phil kicks wildly in the opposite direction of Dan and rolls far away.

“Cut what out?” Dan asks and moves his hands up to Phil’s armpits.

A memory courses through Dan’s head. With it, a rush of nostalgia fills his veins and makes him smile.

‘Come on Phil!’ Dan grabs Phil’s arm to tug him out of the house. Phil still using his uncanny amount of strength to keep his head in the door.

‘Wait! Dan! I’m talking to mum!” Phil groans and tugs Dan inside with him.

Dan whines and hits his forehead against Phil’s back. Phil laughs with an excessive amount of air through his nose and lets Dan lean against the back of his shoulder.

‘Mummy? Can I got to Dan’s house?’ Phil calls up the stairs.

‘Of course Philly! Do you need a bag for the night?’ Phil’s mum calls down from the staircase. Dan smiles and wraps his arms around Phil’s tummy.

‘Probably,’ Phil smiles and runs his fingertip over Dan’s hand. Dan slips his hands up, rubbing against Phil’s stomach and making him tense.

‘What’s wrong Phil?’

Phil tenses against Dan and mutters, ‘It-t’s no-”

“Are you ticklish?” Dan asks and runs his fingers along Phil’s stomach.

Phil burst out laughing and grabs Dan’s hands to pull him away. “Danny! No!”

“Too late!” Dan laughs. “Haven’t you ever been tickled before?”

“N-no,” Phil shakes his head and laughs loudly. “Stop that!”

“Only children are weird,” Dan comments, Phil snorting again and hitting his hand.

“That’s so mean, Dan!”

“Love you,” Dan laughs and finally lets go of Phil.

“I hate you.”

Dan follows Phil up the stairs and bumps his shoulder as they turn towards Phil’s bedroom. “Mhmm.”

“Can you guys stop fucking on the school lawn please?” Kel laughs and kicks Dan’s side a bit. Beside him, Lamb is biting her lip nervously, shy now that Phil is with them.

Dan blushes and moves to step off of Phil. Behind Kel Dan notices the empty school windows. School is over already? Goddamn, Dan was out of commission.

“Shut up,” Dan hits his shoulder against Kel’s and moves towards the door. “Bye, Phil!”

“Where do you think you’re going?” Phil asks and crosses his arms. “We have places to be.”

Dan stops short of the door and turns around with his eyebrow raised. “And when did we decide that?”

“Lester! 42 goddamned laps, tell me the truth, is it steroids? Speed? Crack? I thought we were going to do that together!” Phil’s friend, Smithy, joins the collection of people outside. He’s holding some library book everyone and their mother knows he scooped out to fit weed bags inside of and his curly brown hair is worse than usual, curling around his cheekbones and reaching down to the base of his jaw. He tosses his arm around Phil’s shoulder and laughs when Phil shoves him off.

“That’s why,” Phil smirks, “42 laps, Howell. New record!” Phil crosses his arms, looking quite impressed with himself. Ass.

Dan turns around to see Lamb and Kel standing next to him. Looking protective of him already, Kel’s jaw is locked and Lamb’s fist is clenched into a fist at her side. Dan can’t help but roll his eyes, he loves his friends but they could work on being less damned overbearing.

“I’ll see you guys tomorrow, okay? You guys go have fun,” Dan urges them and Kel is taken aback.

“It’s ice cream study,” he whines and walks forward to grab Dan’s shoulder. “Lamb is paying and everything.” Dan can’t help but laugh at his friend’s silly antics and squeezes his arm reassuringly.

“We’ll make her pay at the movies tomorrow,” Dan wiggles his eyebrows towards Lamb. She sticks out her tongue.

Kel groans and finally steps back from Dan. “Fine, but if you need to be picked up call me. Lamb’s car could kill you before it got you home.” With that, he rushes off towards the door to get home. Lamb waves goodbye before racing after him, instantly right on his tail.

“I’m only missing one car window. Stop being such a baby about it, it’s in the backseat anyway!”

Dan turns back to where Phil and Smithy are engaged in a deep conversation. Smithy smiling mischievously and playing with the pages of his book, “Hell yeah I can swing that, you know where Terra is right now?”

“Probably in the kid’s park. Don’t walk into traffic,” Phil laughs and Smithy hits his shoulder gruffly. “I’m not that high and you know it mister.”

Then, Smithy is off in the direction of a small park beside the school everyone used to hang out in middle school. Also known as the park where Dan flew off the monkey bars and cracked his arm in two places, then Phil grabbed him and by the time Dan’s mom found them Dan had stopped crying. It ended up being a hairline fracture and Dan’s mother scolded him for overreacting and “giving her a heart attack.” But Dan couldn’t help it, he was a drama queen at heart.

“Now that that’s out of the way, time to go on the adventure of a thousand funs,” Phil smiles and shuffles around in his pocket before producing a pair of keys.

“Here,” Phil tosses them at Dan and they hit the tips of Dan’s fingers before falling into a puddle of mud. Phil pouts as Dan fishes them out of the puddle and wipes them off in the grass, his ears dark red. “Anyway, I’m going to go get changed. Just hang out in my car until I get there.”

Dan watches as Phil turns to walk away. All of his gym clothes sopping wet and sticking to his skin in multiple places. “Wait? What about m-” Phil slams the door to the school’s gym and Dan groans audibly. “Car.”

The sky is slowly becoming a darker grey and Dan turns to walk towards the school parking lot. Maybe he can get his car home before Phil is done changing.

With that in mind, Dan hops into his baby and flicks a piece of paper into the plastic bag/trash can he has stuffed in the backseat. Dan sets Phil’s keys in his pocket before setting his car in neutral and heading towards home.

The drive from school to Dan’s house is very much engraved in his head, each turn and house bringing back some memory. Like the little white one on the corner that used to be neon purple and always had a mean dog lying outside. Or Ms. O’Riels house when her daughter sold homemade cookies in a stand outside. Before the complications that caused her daughter to move away, of course.

Parking in the driveway is a big experience on his own. Growing up with 4 older siblings mean Dan never, ever, got to park his car in the driveway or garage. It was three cars to fill the place and everyone else parked under the cherry trees. The grim reminder standing out through many tiny dents across Dan’s roof.

Dan parks his car and slides out. He locks the car before turning in the direction of the school. Only two blocks or so away, the walk is brisk and Dan doesn’t go as long as he thinks. Still, Phil looks a mix of surprised and gracious at the sight of him.

“Jesus! I thought you’d stolen the keys to my car and took off,” Phil laughs nervously and hurries over to Dan. Now dressed in his regular green army jacket and plaid backpack.

Dan laughs back and hands Phil his keys back. Noticing the small lion keychain attached to a clip on flashlight.

“So, you ready for you 1st day of being a punk?” Phil jingles his car keys suggestively.

Dan smiles shyly and opens Phil’s passenger seat door. “I wouldn’t say you’re a punk.”

Phil rolls his eyes and after a couple tries turns his car on. The whole place is surprisingly clean regarding Dan’s car as a comparison. Everything is in perfect order and the dashboard houses a small stuffed lion that slides with each of Phil’s fast turns.

Subconsciously, Dan’s hand slides through the handle above him. Yet his body continues to move as the car swerves from side to side, coming sickeningly close to a light blue Honda.

“You’re going to give me a stroke,” Dan breathes and sucks in a breath when Phil stops a little too close to the car in front of them.

Phil shrugs and laughs. He reaches forward to straighten out the little lion and straighten his mane. While doing this he switches on the radio that’s chipped in multiple places. He goes through a minimal of 30 stations before settling on a Red Hot Chili Peppers song.

“You’re pop punk, Phil,” Dan teases and Phil nudges his shoulder.

“Oi, it’s a good song. Don’t judge.”

Dan snickers in reply and sets his feet on the grey interior. The song plays loudly, vibrating through Dan’s ears and the wind from the open windows.

“We’re here,” Phil announces and shakes Dan until his eyes open. Dan smiles and stretches his arms out before he leaves the car.

In front of them stands a large brick building. The rustic sign out front reading ‘Luxury Apartments.’ Yeah, no.

“This looks like a murder house,” Dan comments and Phil snickers beside him. They lock Phil’s car and head inside where a room sits between the outside and the lobby. Phil walks over to the landline sat on a table in the left corner and types in an apartment number.

“Hurry the fuck up, Smiths! I’m freezing my ass off out here!” Phil yells into the microphone. He slams it down right after and the door buzzes to let them in. Dan holds the door for Phil and raises his eyebrows when he walks by.

“What? It’s just Smithy. He’s probably too high to talk right now,” Phil walks down the brick hallway that seems strongly of dust and stops at 3A.

The door swings open before Phil can even knock and Smithy laughs, his chestnut colored hand reaching up to ruffle Phil’s equally dark hair. “Fucking finally. I’m almost out already.”

“Bastard, I told you to save a couple for me and Dan,” Phil pushes past Smithy into the apartment and hightails it into the kitchen. Dan follows right on his heels and awkward leans on the kitchen table while Phil grabs a container from the freezer.

“Alright Howell, lesson one,” Phil pushes the tray over to Dan and rips the tinfoil off. They both lean forward to look inside and Dan about laughs at what’s inside.

“Weed brownies? Really?” He looks up and Phil looks back with a knowing smirk on his face.

“Oh, this isn’t the lesson. Follow me,” Phil grabs the tray and walks down a small hallway to the last door, where snickers and loud laughter echo from within. Dan stands behind Phil and looks over his shoulder while Phil shoves the door open. “Hey, freaks.”

“Shut up, Creepy,” Smithy laughs back, his arm wrapped around a Japanese girl with multiple highlights in her black hair. The girl laughs with him and twirls a piece of hair around her index finger.

Phil smiles with them and collapses on the couch. The couch faces a big queen bed with black sheets and only a small coffee table is stuffed between the two. Over the tv sits a large tv with a flag for some punk band behind it. Posters litter the wall, places where the wall is shown are covered with multiple stickers and a skateboard leans against the closet door. Clothes are everywhere and Dan’s nose wrinkles at the overwhelming smell of pot.

“Let me get high before you start eating each other’s faces,” Phil says to which Smithy snorts and throws him the finger.

“Like you don’t enjoy it,” the girl says and sticks out her tongue.

“Gross, Terra. Children are here you know,” Phil covers Dan’s ears and Dan hits Phil on the stomach to get him off. Smithy and the girl - Terra - both laugh at the sight.

While Phil, Smithy, and Terra have their own conversation. Dan leans over to grab a brownie and pops half of it in his mouth. He bites through one and grabs another. His head spinning around and around as he grabs another.

Phil follows in suit, he eats 4 brownies before Dna can even get through his second. “Oh my god, Phil. Slow down,” Dan pushes the fifth brownie away from Phil’s hand and Phil giggles. His giggles slowly building into full on laughing and wow, it did not take long for those to hit.

Then, out of nowhere Smithy is pushing Terra onto the bed and Phil is laughing even more. “Get a fucking room you Voguers!”

Dan gasps when Smithy’s hands go up Terra’s shirt and he covers his eyes. Embarrassment pulsing from his chest and his cheeks turning deep red. Phil laughs and grabs Dan’s shoulder to hold himself up. Dan shoves him off and buries his face in his knees.

“Come on. Dan. Circle of life, lesson one, complete!” Phil giggles.

The brownie starts to kick in and Dan’s head is spinning. He loses any form of embarrassment and giggles at the sight of Smithy pushing Terra up so far they both fall over the edge of the bed onto the coffee table.

Dan thinks he’s about to throw up when that happens, leaning over to set his head on his knees and smacking the couch. Phil is laughing too and sets his head on Dan’s shoulder as he recounts the entire incident to Smithy. Dan leans his head on Phil’s, Phil’s hair tickles his jawline.

“So, how was lesson one, plus one?” Terra asks and Smithy helps her sit on the coffee table, her legs intertwined with Dan’s.

Dan just smiles and wraps his hand up and down Phil’s jacket.

**Author's Note:**

> updated every Thursday!


End file.
